Unforgiven
by horsecrazy2
Summary: After suffering a violent seizure, Alec learns that Ben's insanity isn't exclusive to his brother.


A/N: I wasn't going to post this on fanfiction.net, but since I still don't have the next chapter for Running Out Of Days completed, so I decided to post this. The first 5 parts are already written; I'll post the rest soon.  
  
Disclaimer: Dark Angel is not mine. All characters, aspects, etc. belong to James Cameron, Charles Eglee, and Fox. Don't sue me. You won't get anything.  
  
Disclaimer 2: The title is off Creed's My Own Prison CD. Not like it's the rarest name in the world, so I could just say I thought it up all by myself. :D But I won't. I got it off the back of the CD case.  
  
Part 1  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Jam Pony Xpress  
  
Seattle, WA., November 16th, 2021  
  
*Flashback*  
  
He felt the slick of bile surge against the warmth of his tongue, thrusting against full lips. Fear churned as one with disturbed stomach fluids, uncoiling dark and menacing within his gut. He swallowed hard, walking docilely as they traversed cold pavement, hands cuffed at his back, flanked by four armed guards.  
  
Their footsteps echoed within sensitive ears.  
  
Ahead, the scent of medicine and death twined as one in a perverse dance, assaulting his genetically-enhanced senses with a violence that parted full lips in a breathy gasp.  
  
He felt taut muscles harden in terror, his steps slowing, panic flowering within him.  
  
The sharp prod of a gun forced him on.  
  
The door thrust aside to encompass their figures, and the stench of torture and blood grew stronger, more volatile, his stomach heaving at this vicious invasion of smell.  
  
Dark lashes eclipsed hazel orbs for a single moment as they urged him inside.  
  
He felt the panic growing, surging from deep within, thrusting away all other thought. He coaxed it down, willing away the trembling of limbs that had gone suddenly leaden.  
  
The beckoning glow of carmine illumination drew his eyes open once more.  
  
*End flashback*  
  
He swayed unsteadily, plunging a hand out to brace himself against cold metal lockers. The terror ripped through his insides, brutal in its travel, shredding his very soul as it snaked through pulsing veins.  
  
Their voices echoed around him, distorted and faraway, concern ringing thick as he fell gasping against chill steel.  
  
He peered upward, through rapidly blurring vision, familiar faces appearing within the dark haze that threatened to claim him. He tried to gasp the name that flitted throughout the depths of his mind, but his lips would not form the word, trembled too violently to form any word. He exhaled shakily, his chest constricting with a violence that clenched his entire body in agony.  
  
*I can't breathe!* he thought, the panic rising once more as his knees gave in two spastic jerks.  
  
She hovered above him, dark and beautiful, a slender hand descending to his perspiring brow, brushing aside clinging hair. He opened his mouth to call out to her, a frightened half-sob shuddering broad shoulders as his body rebelled ferociously.  
  
Full, bee-stung lips parted to speak, dark orbs turbulent in fright as they perused his face.  
  
Her words fell on deaf ears.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
The laser thrust layers of darkness, penetrating the gloom to sear the depths of his pupils, jerking him in the straps that bound his tense body to the cold table beneath. He strained upward, screaming, the agony carving a torturously lethargic path through his insides.  
  
Tears burned hot against smooth flesh, traversing the length of his face to pool against gray cotton. He felt his own teeth clamp against the warm flesh of his tongue, crimson liquid lying bitter and stagnant within his mouth.  
  
Another scream tore from his spasming body, reverberating throughout the cold dark room, the yell distorted almost beyond recognition.  
  
The laser bore deeper, burrowing within the emotions he was not allowed to feel, drawing them away, emptying his brain of all but Manticore loyalty. He sensed the memories leaving him, and tried to hold on, tried to grasp them within an untouched part of his mind, a place even Manticore couldn't go.  
  
But they slipped away, dissipating into nothingness as the pain seared hotter, and he succumbed to the agony, sagging limply after one final spasm.  
  
*End flashback*  
  
His head lolled against cold pavement, the lights buzzing overhead burning painfully bright against his eyes. He squinted against them, darting a tongue out to moisten dry lips, his body strangely cold despite the added warmth of the bodies packed around him.  
  
"Alec." A single word fought its way through the encroaching layers of blackness that threatened to swallow him. "Alec can you hear me?"  
  
*Yes. Don't let them hurt me anymore. Don't let them take me back there.*  
  
"Alec! Is he breathing? Oh God, he's not breathing."  
  
*I'm breathing! I'm alive!* he screamed silently, shivering beneath the small hands that took hold of his shoulders. *Don't let them take me back again!*  
  
"Oh God, he's dead!" a male voice intervened, thick with emotion, sounding close to breaking.  
  
"He's not dead!" another voice snapped, fear present within the harsh words.  
  
"Boo, yo' boy's goin' fast. Do somethin' 'less ya' want his body dirtying the nice clean floor."  
  
*I'm not dead. I'm not dead.*  
  
"He's dead! Jesus take me."  
  
"I said he's not dead!"  
  
The voices swirled around him, through him, penetrating his idyllic world, a realm between sleep and wake that held him suspended within a cloud of warmth. The chill of Death snaked covetous fingers through the protective warmth, darkness creeping with it like a silent wraith.  
  
"Alec, just hold on. We're going to help you."  
  
*You can't. Not now.*  
  
And the darkness claimed him.  
  
* * *  
  
Joshua's Seattle, WA., November 23rd, 2021  
  
Her lithe figure darkened the doorway, one leather-sheathed hand lingering against the door's frame, exhaustion tightening beautiful features as she watched his sleeping form. The blanket covering his muscular body-clad only in jeans now-rose and fell in gentle rhythm with his soft breathing.  
  
She moved carefully inside, walking stealthily, boots caressing the hard floor with hardly a sound. He stirred briefly, and she froze, even her breath stilling, until he sighed and rolled over on one side to resume slumber once more.  
  
Moonlight from the open doorway pooled across golden flesh, shading his features in effulgent silver. She cocked her head to study him, marveling over the boyish innocence his face adopted in sleep.  
  
The room carried his scent, the atmosphere thick with it. A scent purely Alec, one she'd begun to recognize without even realizing it. She perched gingerly beside him, crossing both arms over the front of her leather jacket, as though afraid to touch him.  
  
"Joshua's really worried about you, you know." Max whispered. "He won't sleep. I can't even get him to eat. Not even macaroni and cheese. He keeps saying you're dying."  
  
No response.  
  
"Are you, Alec? Are you dying? Did the seizure screw something up in your brain beyond repair? Are you just never going to wake up?"  
  
He breathed deeply in reply.  
  
"You can't just...die. Joshua loves you. You're one of his best friends now. After Annie...I don't know what it would do to him if you bit the dust." Full lips curved in a slight smile. "And Normal, God you should see him. When your started seizing at Jam Pony, and he thought you were dead...I thought he was going to crap his pants. Probably did, knowing him."  
  
She unfolded her arms slowly, reaching tentatively for his forehead, cupping it in a small palm. "He keeps pestering the hell out of me everyday at work. Wants to make sure his Goldenboy is going to make it. I guess a whole week without seeing your face has been torture for him." Her fingers moved absently across his slick brow.  
  
A fist thrummed lightly against the door, pushing it wider, Joshua's hairy face peeking inside.  
  
Max jumped, startled, and rose swiftly, pocketing both hands within supple leather to mask their trembling. "Hey big guy."  
  
"Alec wake up?" he asked, his mournful gaze not holding much hope.  
  
Her eyes surged unbidden back to the sleeping man. "No, big fella'. Not yet."  
  
"Alec ever wake up?" the nomalie asked quietly, slipping inside. The door clicked softly shut behind him. Frightened orbs surged to Max's grim face, glistening beneath a layer of unshed tears, pleading with her to offer some reassurance.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Joshua. Alec always pulls through. He's like a disease. You just can't get rid of him." she replied casually, shrugging both narrow shoulders.  
  
Joshua's eyes flashed. "Alec not disease! Friend of Joshua's, and Max's, too."  
  
The stricken look on Max's face went unnoticed by Joshua, who took the place she'd vacated, his hands far more gentler than Max's could ever be as he produced a cloth he'd discovered beneath the sink and began to dab the perspiration from Alec's brow.  
  
Alec moaned lightly, and thrashed in the grip of a nightmare.  
  
Max turned from the scene, thrusting a hand out to grip the doorknob, her retreating footsteps drawing the nomalie's attention for a moment. He perused her through sad and disappointed eyes, his entire body going slack as she flung the door wide.  
  
"Medium fella' not leave if little fella' sick." The words emerged hushed and thick, almost a whisper.  
  
Max's shoulders stiffened.  
  
"Medium fella' help Max get better."  
  
"I've got stuff to do, Joshua. I can't hang around here forever." she replied after a moment of tense silence, and closed the door gently behind her before he could retaliate.  
  
In the darkness, they waited for him.  
  
He felt their strong cruel hands on him once more, the weight of the cuffs settling heavy over perspiring flesh. The acidic tang of blood within his mouth, its dark scent writhing in genetically-altered senses.  
  
The rapid thrumming of his heart thundered harder.  
  
Sweat meandered in lazy rivulets down a muscular back, flesh growing slick beneath the dark gray T-shirt he wore.  
  
His nostrils flared against the metallic stench of tainted needles, the hotness of glowing lasers.  
  
His throat pulsed in rapid breath, harsh exhalations echoing within the long hallway.  
  
And the laser hovered suddenly before him, tearing violently into him, forcing a shout from parted lips, the agony writhing in the depths of his gut.  
  
Trapped in the nightmare, unable to escape from his own mind, he flailed restlessly in sleep, whimpering and crying out, his terrified screams frightening the dog-man seated beside him.  
  
"Max! Max come quick!" Joshua cried, before remembering she had left nearly an hour ago.  
  
He sat, and watched helplessly, wringing both hands as his friend thrashed defenseless in the grip of some horrible dream.  
  
He swiveled from the ever-present glow of his computer monitor to face her, cerulean gaze grim behind slightly askew glasses. He perused her in silence for a moment, eyes questioning as she sagged onto his immaculate couch.  
  
"No change?" Logan asked quietly after a moment.  
  
"No." she whispered, reaching to stroke gentle fingers against the headache raging within her temple. "It seems like he's sleeping normally, but he won't wake up, he won't open his eyes, nothing. Joshua said he screams sometimes, but it's just screaming. Never words." She turned pained eyes to the man sitting before her. "Why won't he wake up? I don't get it. He should have woken up a long time ago. When I used to sleep off the effects of my seizures, it never lasted this long."  
  
"Max, he needs to be in a hospital. Something's not right if he's gone into a coma."  
  
*Don't say coma.* she thought, easing weary eyes shut. *Coma's are things people don't wake up from, that they eventually die in. Alec's not in a coma.* "He can't go to a hospital." she replied, her voice ringing tired even within her own ears. "White would find out, get hold of him...We both know the kind of sadistic shit White's capable of. Alec's better off slowly dying at Joshua's house."  
  
"You can't help him, not if the seizure's screwed something up in his brain."  
  
"Then the hospital can't either. If the damage has already been done..." She shrugged.  
  
Logan paused a moment, scratching the stubble shading his jaw. "You said the seizure was bad-worse than any you've ever had before. Maybe it's just taking him a long time to recover from the shock he was put through."  
  
"He stopped breathing." she said, her eyes slipping past him, into the distance. "He really should have been taken to the hospital, but I just...couldn't. You know what they'll do to him there. What other choice did I have? I got him breathing again, but he was still unconscious. Normal wanted to call an ambulance. I convinced him I could take care of Alec, then had OC help me carry him outside, and I drove him back to Joshua's on my bike." Her gaze surged downward, to target her slender hands, shaking visibly as she spoke. A tiny smile curved full lips. "Not an easy task when he was flopping all over the place."  
  
Logan studied her slumped form, every inch of him aching to take her in his arms, comfort her, stroke the sleek dark waterfall of hair tumbling the length of her softly curved back. But that, of course, was impossible, and even so, it was not his job anymore. He'd been replaced, by a cocky, smart-alec transgenic who'd stolen Max's heart with his smooth-talking and charm.  
  
"You love him." Logan accused softly.  
  
Max's head snapped sharply up, her lips parting to deny his words, then shutting abruptly once more as she remembered that she was supposed to 'be' with Alec. She shrugged and twined her hands in a tense knot. "I don't want him to die." That, at least, was the truth, something she hadn't realized until now. I don't want him to die.  
  
"I'm sorry." Logan whispered after a moment, unsure of what else to say. The atmosphere between them grew taut, its heaviness descending to sagging shoulders. "Alec's a good guy, Max. He has his moments."  
  
"Yeah. He does." She smiled wanly, and rose to leave.  
  
"Take care of him." Logan murmured after her, his words all but lost in the quiet click of the shutting door.  
  
"And Alec screaming and thrashing and still not wake up even though Joshua shake him! Just keep screaming and yelling. Not talk before, but scream Max's name now, but Max not here, Max say she have other things to do, and leave Joshua here alone with Alec-"  
  
"Ok, big Boo! Calm yo' self down before we get another fool laid up sick. Alec just havin' bad dreams. He gonna' be ok, big guy."  
  
She voiced the words, but doubt lingered heavily in her own mind, the reassurances meant more to calm the dog-man than because she actually believed what she said.  
  
The room before her lay cold and still, the man sprawled amongst sweaty sheets silent and motionless now, his breathing slightly labored as he slumbered on.  
  
"Yelling and crying and screaming before Original Cindy got here." Joshua said. "Joshua not know what to do. Alec sound scared; Joshua scared, and Max not here."  
  
"Well I'm here now, big Boo, so yo' just sit yo' hairy ass down and quit worryin' 'bout our boy. He gonna' be just fine. OC got a nose fo' these type o' things."  
  
Joshua's brow furrowed. "OC have another nose?"  
  
"No-" she began, then paused and waved a hand to dismiss the topic, not bothering to explain the expression to the naive nomalie.  
  
"OC fix Alec?"  
  
"Sugah, I ain't got a magic wand. OC wish she could just wave a hand and make the smartass better, but even she ain't got divine powers."  
  
"Max." The word ascended the darkened bedroom as a soft sigh, turning both pairs of eyes to his slack features. Then, louder, with more urgency, "Max!"  
  
"Alec." OC touched a hand to his bare shoulder, closing slender fingers against soft flesh. "Alec. It's me. Yo' in there?"  
  
"Alec in where?" Joshua whispered, looking concerned at the implication that his friend was somewhere other than lying on his bed, panting and shivering as he called feverishly for the one person who couldn't be bothered to stick around and see if he was all right when two people who loved him were right there with him.  
  
OC turned saddened eyes to her companion, slowly releasing Alec as he quieted once more. "Sugah, I'm sorry, but the boy-" She cut herself off mid- sentence, jaw dropping as her gaze surged to Alec's still figure.  
  
Shining hazel orbs contemplated her own dark ones.  
  
The old house smelled of death.  
  
Its scent clung to her, molding within every crevice, lingering against flaring nostrils. The paper grocery bags she clasped in both arms slipped free to tumble against the hard floor, their contents scattering at her feet.  
  
Joshua's anguished cries rose to greet her, thrusting against sensitive eardrums, churning her stomach to panic.  
  
She blurred to his room, kicking the door wide, flinging herself through even before her foot had touched down once more. "What the hell happened?" Her gaze surged to the bed, to the wailing dogman, a motionless Alec cradled in his arms as he sobbed.  
  
"Yo' boy finally woke up." a subdued OC said. She touched a hand to Max's shoulder. "He kept calling for yo' an' about a minute later he opened his eyes. Then he started havin' trouble breathing again...an' we couldn't help him. Nothin' helped him, Boo. He's-"  
  
*Dead.* Max finished the sentence grimly in her own mind, feeling a desolation settle thick within her chest.  
  
His image would remain forever branded in the depths of her mind, the dancing light void from lifeless hazel orbs, his eyes frosted in the final blankness of death.  
  
* * *  
  
Max thrust into consciousness with a start, the bed she lay on jerking beneath her. Beside her, Alec let out a soft sigh, and turned in her arms, his head settling to rest against her shoulder. His breath fanned her throat, whispering across satin flesh, the warmth of his body driving away the chill of the old house.  
  
She tensed against him, fully awake now, hyperaware of his nearness and the touch of his lips against her throat as he nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck. *What the hell?* she thought, yanking away the slender arm she'd draped over his torso as though he'd set flame to her limb.  
  
Images of the man in her arms danced throughout her mind, his body lovingly embraced by another pair of arms, his flesh chill and damp beneath Joshua's wracking sobs.  
  
*"Nothin' helped him, Boo. He's dead."*  
  
Max closed her eyes against a vicious barrage of visions, unconconciously tightening her hold on him. He burrowed harder against her, full lips turned downward in the slightest of frowns, forehead rippling into lines of agitation.  
  
"You asshole." she whispered against his ear, scowling. "Now I'm even dreaming about you."  
  
Her hand strayed to his forehead despite the harsh words, moving gently against perspiring flesh, fingers trembling as they stroked the curve of his brow.  
  
OC had left hours ago, splitting not long after Max had returned with food for Joshua. And Joshua had led Max eagerly to the X-5's room, chattering excitedly about Alec's brief emergence into consciousness. He seemed so enthusiastic, his dark mood of an entire week shattering and dissipating into nothingness...she couldn't find it within herself to tell him that Alec going unconscious again was a bad sign. That this time, he really might not ever wake up again.  
  
She'd found Alec alone and shivering, his muscular figure quivering even beneath the layer of blankets pulled taut across him. So reluctantly, she'd kicked off her boots and crawled into bed beside him, her body heat instantly soothing him, the touch of her hands quieting his tossing.  
  
*He'd never let me live this down if he were awake. I'd never hear the end of how my true feelings of desire for his wonderfulness were finally surfacing or some shit like that.*  
  
Alec inhaled deeply and suddenly stiffened in her hold.  
  
"Ah...Max...if this is you and not some alien pod person who's taken over your body...would you like to explain this to me?"  
  
* * *  
  
"I wasn't hugging you."  
  
"Ok, you were cradling me tenderly in your arms and petting my forehead." Full lips curved in a smirk, a sparkling warmth present within beautiful hazel orbs. "Either way you toss the coin, Max, you had your arms around me. While I was unconscious and vulnerable, no less. I know you're not getting much lovin' from Logan, but do you really have to take advantage of a sick man?"  
  
Max knit both brows in a scowl, dark, turbulent gaze surging to his smug figure. "Just shut up. Can you do that? Can you stop flapping your goddamn yap for three seconds?"  
  
He thought about that a moment. "Maybe two seconds."  
  
She rolled her eyes, and perched lightly at the edge of his bed.  
  
"Max, I'm hungry."  
  
"You haven't eaten in a week."  
  
"Ok: Max, I'm *really* hungry." He turned pleading eyes to her impassive face, slipping his legs from beneath the covers and drawing jean-clad knees up to his muscular chest. Toned and strong arms draped lightly around them, his hands clasping loosely in front.  
  
She arched an eyebrow in reply. "Your point?"  
  
He blinked. "Well, aren't you going to go make me something to eat?"  
  
She touched a finger to her chin and tapped it gently against soft flesh, brow furrowing in contemplation. "Let me think about that a minute: No."  
  
"Max."  
  
She shrugged. "Get off your own ass and make it."  
  
"Max! I'm sick. You can't expect me to get my own food after I've been laid up a whole week with the shakes. What if I collapse in the middle of making a sandwich? How would that make you feel, knowing that it was your fault I was forced to overexert my beautiful body?"  
  
"Pretty satisfied, I'd think."  
  
Their gazes twined as one, exasperation roiling within Alec's, amusement and some smugness in Max's. She broke eye contact a moment later, full lips twitching. "Shut up and quit whining. Joshua's making you something."  
  
He sighed and snuggled back down against his pillow, lacing both hands beneath tousled hair. "Great. Macaroni and cheese. Oh well. Haven't had it in a week. Guess my taste buds should be able to stand it since they've had a little break." His gaze wandered once more to the soft curve of her body, lingering on the glow of sleek dark locks, her hair shimmering as ebony fire beneath the lights buzzing overhead. "What are you doing in here, anyway? You're not leavin' now that Joshua's got things back under control?"  
  
She lifted both shoulders and cocked an eyebrow at him. "You trying to get rid of me?"  
  
Alec shook his head and thrust both hands up in acquiescence. "Hey, hot woman wants to hang around in my bedroom, who am I to argue with her?"  
  
"Shut up." she snapped, eyes flaring.  
  
"What? Max, I complimented you."  
  
"Whatever." She waved a dismissive hand in his direction. "Just don't compliment me again." *Wait, that wasn't right...*  
  
"Don't compliment you? You rather I sit here and call you fat and tell you to get a haircut and-"  
  
"Just shut the hell up. I meant don't *compliment* me again."  
  
An expression of confusion drifted across his handsome features. "Ah...what's the difference?"  
  
"The second time I emphasized the 'compliment' in a subtle way that would have completely escaped your pea brain."  
  
"You mean that sexual connotation you slipped in when you thought I wasn't listening?" he replied, winking.  
  
"I didn't-"  
  
"Max, you don't have to be ashamed. It's perfectly understandable for you to be thinking less-then-clean thoughts about me, especially when you're sitting on my bed and I have no shirt on."  
  
"It was *not* a sexual connotation, asshole!" she spat, eyebrows growing taut with the malevolence of the glare she tossed his direction. "Nothing sexual remotely crosses my mind when I'm thinking about you."  
  
"Now you're thinking about me? Come on, Max, give: kinky fantasies or slow, hot-"  
  
"Is it in your knowledge how to not be annoying? You know, this past week has been really nice-no Alec yapping in my ear, no stupid remarks, no idiot screwing up and getting his ass in trouble, forcing me to come to the rescue. Maybe you could do us all a favor and just go unconscious again, go to your happy place or wherever the hell you've been."  
  
He froze beneath the cruel onslaught of her words, something dark and anguished shimmering within the depths of beautiful hazel orbs. Silence rang thick within the small room, settling as a heavy veil over both transgenics. Alec contemplated her for a moment from beneath long dark lashes, throat pulsing in sudden sharp gasps, full lips parted as though she'd just dealt him a physical blow, plunging the air viciously from his lungs.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
Agony writhing within every nerve, thrusting his entire body to white-hot fire.  
  
*End flashback*  
  
Her eyes wandered the curve of his heaving shoulders, and fear roiled suddenly in the depths of her stomach.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
Primal screams echoing long and shrill behind cold steel doors.  
  
*End flashback*  
  
She rose swiftly, panic trembling slender hands beneath a sheen of perspiration, dark orbs perusing the horror twisting once cocky features. "Alec?" Her hand descended to his bare shoulder. "Alec!" Oh God, is he having another seizure? She felt sickness froth to life in her throat, churning bile roaring to lie still against tightly clamped lips.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
A dark and beautiful young girl, her lithe fingers taking up an intricate dance over gleaming white keys. Warmth in his heart, driving back the chill Manticore had cultivated within him.  
  
*End flashback*  
  
His eyes slipped closed. A heavy gasp heaved broad shoulders.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
Soft, full lips against his own, those lithe fingers tangled within the strands of his hair, stroking the unseen marks of his barcode.  
  
*End flashback*  
  
"Alec?" Her voice emerged as a whisper, its usual harshness replaced with concern.  
  
"Get out." he said, low and cold, nothing of the usual teasing present in his tone.  
  
"Alec-"  
  
"I said get out Max." he growled, brutal images surging across closed eyelids.  
  
Her hand left him after a brief hesitation, and a moment later, the soft click of the door reverberated in sensitive ears.  
  
As her quiet footsteps dissipated into nothingness, he felt hot wetness treading the length of his face, something deep within him breaking just as it had beneath the searing heat of a pulsing laser, even the agony of Manticore not enough to override the feelings of murdering a loved one.  
  
His head fell to waiting arms as the sobs racked his strong body.  
  
Lost in the never-ending flow of vicious memories, he didn't notice the door slip open to encompass her beautiful face.  
  
She watched a moment, eyes turbulent in thought, something urging her to reach out to him, comfort his troubled soul, soothe the tears from weary eyes. But something held her back as well, an awkward uncertainty that prompted her to close the door once more, and walk away, her steps slow and heavy beneath the memory of his heart-breaking cries.  
  
* * *  
  
She died beneath the moon's brilliance, verdant orbs frosting over in blankness as Death reached chill fingers to steal the dwindling remnants of her soul. The tang of blood frothed thick to her lips, gurgling in quiet protest. Cradled within his strong arms, her body gave one final spasm, then settled reluctantly into acquiescence.  
  
Something primal and dark lurked within his gaze as he silently perused her still features. A young and handsome face twisted slowly to hatred, made ugly by rabid fury.  
  
He carried her silently to the nearby dumpster, and thrust the lid easily up with one hand, depositing the body into swirling darkness with a careless dusting of his hands.  
  
Joshua's Seattle, WA., November 24th, 2021  
  
He emerged clean and glistening, the heady scent of steam clinging to his damp body. His eyes barely touched on her before they'd moved on, his gait casual as he traversed the length of the living room.  
  
She felt the heat of his body as he passed, and inhaled the fresh, masculine fragrance that lingered even in his absence, averting her eyes from the taut muscles of his bare abdomen.  
  
She'd stayed the night, hovering outside his bedroom door, debating whether or not to go in. The thrashing and quiet moaning from beyond told her that whatever Manticore demons had seized hold of him had not yet released their hold. He doesn't want me in there. He doesn't want me to see him having a moment of weakness. She'd used these words to assuage her guilt over standing outside, doing nothing, twiddling her thumbs while he cried out.  
  
Max felt an unexpected pang of loneliness watching him now, his full lips curving only for Joshua, the X-5 clearly intending to deny Max's presence.  
  
"Hey pal. You working on Joshua number 38?" he asked, no sign of pain or anguish within those nonchalant words. "Nice not to have me smelling like somethin' that crawled out of a dumpster, huh, big guy? A week without a shower-not a pretty sight. Or smell." Alec amended with a shrug.  
  
"Alec smell good." Joshua agreed.  
  
She parted full lips to speak, eyeing his back. "Alec, I-"  
  
He spun to face her, and his eyes seemed to pierce straight through her, lifeless, emotionless. Two hard pieces of hazel stone glittering within his now coldly handsome face. "You want somethin', Max?" The amicable tone of his voice sounded strangely out of place, paired with the artfully-crafted mask he wore.  
  
*I'm sorry.*  
  
She examined him through pleading eyes, trying to convey through the power of her gaze what she couldn't bring herself to say.  
  
He only stared at her, unblinking, waiting for her to voice her thoughts.  
  
"Um...I brought over some tryptophan, in case the...seizures hit again. They're probably out of your system by now, but, you know, better to be safe than sorry."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Joshua glanced between the two, apparently sensing tension, his paintbrush halting mid-air. Alec had already turned his back on Max, and settled into the battered armchair he'd pulled close to his revered 'boob tube.'  
  
"Max...stay? Hang with Joshua and Medium Fella'?"  
  
She thrust dark orbs from the back of Alec's head, looking slightly startled, a deer caught in oncoming headlights. "No...I gotta' blaze, Josh. I've got work today." She fumbled for a moment in the pocket of her leather jacket, extracting a slender bottle from its depths.  
  
Joshua caught it easily in one hand as she tossed it the length of the room to his waiting figure, her presence only a faint memory now, the sound of her Ninja already purring to life outside.  
  
"I can cure the virus."  
  
The words reverberated within his head, the phone clutched in trembling fingers quivering against the scruffy beginnings of a beard. "Who is this?" Logan demanded quietly, spinning from cerulean illumination of the softly flickering computer screen before him.  
  
"Does that really matter?"  
  
"I don't deal with people I don't know." Logan shot back, heart thundering erratically beneath his heaving chest. "Give me a name."  
  
"You don't need my name. However, I do need something from you. There is a man you're associated with; he goes by the name Alec McDowell now. Formerly 494, one of the 'mutants' the media is having a field day blowing into big bad monsters. I want this man. If you can produce him, you'll get the cure to the virus and be with the woman you love."  
  
"Huh. And how do you know about all this?"  
  
"You've been searching the Internet for possible contacts to Manticore to see if you can procure an antidote to a special virus targeted specifically to your DNA. I've had people tracking you for a while, suspecting you might be in contact with some of the Manticore escapees. When I realized what it was you're searching for, I knew you were associated with 452."  
  
"Then you're Manticore."  
  
"You could say that." Static popped and crackled in the absence of the mysterious caller's voice. "Do we have a deal, Mr. Cale?"  
  
"I don't think so." He swallowed against the heavy knot forming within his throat.  
  
"I don't think you quite understand what I'm saying. I'm offering a cure. A permanent one. All I want in return is 494."  
  
"And how do you know I'm in contact with 494? He left the city months ago."  
  
"My people have video footage of him from only two weeks ago."  
  
Logan smirked. "If you're fingers are so far-reaching, why haven't you picked him up yet? Why send an ordinary to do the job for you?"  
  
"494 was one of the best Manticore had. He's a trained assassin, well- skilled in stealth. Cloak and dagger. Our efforts to pick him up have failed."  
  
Logan cocked an eyebrow. 'Stealth' had never been a word he associated with the cocky, flamboyant X-5, the same man hounded relentlessly by Max to 'do something about his damn barcode.' "I can't hand him over to you. He's a...friend." Not exactly true. a voice whispered from the deepest recesses of his mind. While no close companion of Logan's, Alec had managed to force his way into Max's life and heart, and despite the pain this realization caused the older man, he just couldn't hand over the man Max now loved for whatever sick guinea-pig shit these sadistic bastards must have planned for him.  
  
"Sorry." he said, his voice ringing loud and strong despite the turmoil in his heart.  
  
His thumb caressed the 'off' button, and the dial tone's penetrating cry shrilled its dissonant song.  
  
The shriek of tortured rubber prompted both hands to her ears, leather- sheathed fingers releasing damp handlebars for a single moment as the mists parted around her. The vehicle surged through driving precipitation, thrusting aside layers of darkness, growing frighteningly large within startled mahogany orbs.  
  
"Shit!" she yelled, and leapt, the messenger bike clamped between jean- clad thighs clattering to lie still against rain-slick pavement.  
  
She ascended the turbulent skies, flipping to land cat-like on the car's hood, the violent landing tossing her against frosted glass. Through the grimy remnants of a shattered windshield, she glimpsed young and violent faces, and the slender dark object gripped in the passenger's hand.  
  
The object plunged upward, targeting her beautiful features.  
  
Max scrambled to her feet with a curse, thrusting both arms out to regain her balance, only her incredible reflexes saving her from a nasty fall.  
  
She spun, and jumped, at the same moment the world exploded around her.  
  
The rain swirled to embrace his solitary figure, its chill thrusting probing fingers beneath glistening leather, lingering against soft warm flesh. He bowed his tousled head in acquiescence to driving precipitation, pulling the slack body in his arms more firmly against the hard curve of taut muscles.  
  
Trembling fingers whispered over satin flesh, a strong hand cupping the soft curve of a rain-slick cheekbone.  
  
Verdant orbs sought his own in frozen contemplation, forever wide and staring.  
  
Ebony slashes shaded pale flesh, the distinct marks of a barcode standing out in stark contrast against wan features.  
  
The fingers traced the barcode's outline, lightly skimming cold and lifeless skin, the gentle touch almost loving, reverent.  
  
In the darkness, through slashing rain, the moon drifted overhead with the lightness of a passing spirit, illuminating the grisly scene in effulgent silver. It's light danced for a single moment over a handsome and young face, lingering within beautiful hazel orbs to reveal black and swirling madness roiling just below long dark lashes.  
  
It moved on, to highlight the barcode tattooed over a smooth forehead, the numbers at its base peeking from beneath glistening layers of carmine liquid.  
  
X5-00375869483791494.  
  
He plunged trembling from the realm of sleep, waking to sweat and fear, a panicked heart thrumming wildly beneath his heaving chest.  
  
In the deepest recesses of his mind, Alec felt the chill touch of darkness, a writhing madness that sought to consume all, the same madness which must have driven Ben insane.  
  
He clenched perspiration-slick palms to hard fists, throat pulsing in rapid breath, eyes snapping wide to contemplate the ceiling overhead. He felt the panic snaking covetous fingers to embrace him once more.  
  
The violent crack of bone reverberated within sensitive ears. He raised gore-slick hands to wide eyes, fingers twitching and bucking beneath glistening carmine liquid.  
  
Full lips parted to release heavy gasps, shoulders rising and falling beneath his ragged breathing.  
  
Dark lashes eclipsed beautiful hazel orbs for a single moment.  
  
When he looked again, both hands lay still and pale against his bare chest, bathed only in undulating shadows.  
  
A/N 2: This was originally going to be only two parts, with both parts being *really* long, but I decided to break them up so you guys didn't have to read 50 or so pages all at once. So this story will probably end up being about 5 or 6 parts, maybe more. We'll see. Enjoy! 


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